On the morning of September 12, 1907, Bertrand Shaw returned home from his night shift on the Midland Railway to find his mother waiting outside the flat he shared with his partner, Emily Dimmock, in Camden Town, London. After obtaining a spare key from the landlady, he entered to discover a horrifying scene: Emily’s throat had been cut, and she was dead in their bed. The young woman, known to friends and clients as Phyllis, had been born in Hertfordshire in 1884 and had moved to London seeking a better life. Struggling to find work, she had turned to prostitution and had worked in a brothel run by John Crabtree before meeting Shaw, a 19-year-old dining car attendant.
The couple presented themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Bertrand Shaw, and he worked nights to support her, believing she had left her former life behind. In reality, she continued to see other men while he was away.
On the evening of September 11, Emily went to the Rising Sun public house on Houseton Road. Witnesses later testified that she was seen there with a man named Robert Wood, a talented artist and engraver. The two left the pub together around 9:30 p. m.
She was never seen alive again. The police investigation revealed that the killer had washed their hands in the flat’s basin and dried them with a bloodstained towel. Several items were missing, including a silver watch, a cigarette case, two rings, and a purse. Oddly, Emily’s postcard album had been disturbed, and a partially burnt letter was found in the fireplace.
A key witness, ship’s cook Robert Percival Robertson, told police he had spent several nights with Emily earlier that week. He recalled that she had received a postcard and a letter, both written in the same hand, arranging a meeting at the Rising Sun. The postcard was signed “Alice. ” Police released the postcard to newspapers after it was found hidden under a lining in a drawer.
Two people recognized the handwriting. One was Ruby Young, a woman who had been in a relationship with Robert Wood for two years. Wood visited her after the postcard was published, claiming it was an innocent request from a woman he met at a pub. He begged her not to go to the police, saying his father was in poor health.
When Ruby confided in a friend, the friend contacted police, and Wood was arrested and charged with Emily’s murder. The trial at the Old Bailey began on December 12, 1907, and became a national sensation. The prosecution called witnesses who placed Wood with Emily on the night of the murder, including the barmaid at the Rising Sun, who saw them leave together. Another witness, Robert McCowan, claimed he saw a man with a distinctive jerky walk leaving the flat around 4:45 a.
m. Ruby Young testified that Wood had asked her to provide a false alibi. Wood’s defense was led by Sir Edward Marshall Hall, one of the most celebrated lawyers of the era. Marshall Hall challenged the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, highlighted inconsistencies, and argued that his client had no motive, that the stolen items were never found in his possession, and that no murder weapon was ever located.
He suggested Wood’s lies about his whereabouts were simply the actions of a respectable man trying to protect his reputation. The judge’s summation seemed to favor the defense, telling the jury they should acquit the defendant. The jury took only 15 minutes to return a verdict of not guilty. The courtroom erupted in cheers, and crowds outside celebrated with fireworks.
News of the acquittal even halted performances in West End theaters. After the trial, Robert Wood resumed work as an illustrator, though not under his own name. He married but later divorced, and remained in London until his death in 1969 at age 92. Ruby Young, facing public hostility, changed her name and disappeared.
No one else was ever charged with Emily Dimmock’s murder. The case remains unsolved, with theories ranging from an unknown assailant to Bertrand Shaw, who may have discovered Emily’s double life. Some have suggested that one of her clients, possibly infected with syphilis, carried out a threat.
Others still believe Wood was guilty and that his respected family and brilliant lawyer allowed him to escape justice.